Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Chambliss: Democrats to blame for gas prices

Says Sen. Chambliss: "Make no mistake about it: Congress, and especially the Democrats in Congress, are to blame for skyrocketing gas prices."

I wish everything was so simple. I'd work fewer hours.

Unfortunately some people have more complicated explanations for the rise in gas prices. Mideast tensions, the weak dollar, increasing demand for oil in China, commodities speculation, oil company greed, unrealistic expectations from American consumers - take your pick.

So I asked Chambliss' office if his "It's the Democrats' fault" stance is an over simplification. His campaign says it's putting together a more detail response to this question, but campaign spokeswoman Michell Hitt Grasso said the senator "does not deny that there's increased demand."

"But with increased demand you must have increased supply," she said.

The senator's statement refers to various Congressional votes to block drilling for domestic oil, as well as former President Bill Clinton's veto to block drilling in Alaska in 1995, she said.

Chambliss' office also sent me some comments he made on the Senate floor today. His strategy for moving forward seems a bit more nuanced than "blame Democrats."

We’ve got to continue down the road of researching and developing more alternative fuels. We have seen the development of ethanol primarily in one region of our country -- the Midwest. The unintended consequence that we've seen is that food prices have increased due to the demand for corn. That’s why we have to move to develop the means to produce ethanol from cellulosic-based products.

We’ve also got to implement conservation practices from an individual and household standpoint. We have put some measures in place that will direct the automobile manufacturing industry to develop automobiles that get higher miles per gallon. We also need to encourage some personal measures to make sure that we truly do have conservation practices in place.

6 comments:

Can you do me a favor and not post senseless theories from morons trying to hold on to their jobs. Exactly what in 6 years, besides slander Max Cleland has Faxby Chambliss done for the state of Georgia? Or gas prices? Or anything substantial for that matter? We need to throw this bumb out of office as far as he can be thrown.

Now to discuss gas prices there is enough blame to go around so the partisan bickering really helps no one. Solutions people, not blame!

By Ellen WulfhorstNEW YORK (Reuters) - A majority of Americans do not read political blogs, the online commentaries that have proliferated in the race for the U.S. presidency, according to a poll released on Monday.Only 22 percent of people responding to the poll said they read blogs regularly, meaning several times a month or more, according to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive.Political blogs, in which writers, pundits and other participants voice opinions in online forums, burst into the spotlight in the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns. Some of the most high-profile blogs are influential on campaign strategies, media coverage and public perception of the candidates and issues.Unlike traditional, mainstream media, blogs often adopt a specific point of view. Critics complain they can contain unchecked facts, are poorly edited and use unreliable sources.Despite the attention blogs can get, the poll said 56 percent of Americans say they never read blogs that discuss politics. Another 23 percent read them several times a year, the survey showed.While blogs are largely considered the realm of young people who are most Internet-savvy, only 19 percent of people ages 18 to 31, and 17 percent of those ages 32 to 43, regularly read a political blog, the poll said.The generation most likely to read such blogs are those age 63 or older, 26 percent of whom said they do so. Also, 23 percent of those ages 44 to 62 read them, the poll said.Roughly an even number -- 22 percent of Republicans and 20 percent of Democrats -- regularly read blogs, while 26 percent of independents do the same, the poll showed.The poll was conducted online from January 15 to January 22 among 2,302 adults. Harris said it does not calculate or provide a margin of error because it finds such figures can be misleading.

Let me see...I don't suppose those Republicans have had anything at all to do with creating the flood of dollars piling up around the world, each devalued by those newly arriving hordes.

There could be a growing realization that those pieces of paper are shrinking in value well in excess of the official economic swill promulgated by the American government through its various agencies offered to delude the public. I guess, too, that it would be entirely irrational to assume the trend to accept other currencies in payment for oil, snatching the rug out from under the shriveling dollar's position as the world's reserve currency, would serve as further confirmation as to why oil prices, relative to American fiat that is, are climbing.

Gee, if we measure anything of real value in comparison to dollars, assuming of course that the market for whatever we are assessing is not being manipulated, like precious metals for instance, we would be easily convinced that the dollar was in decline, serious decline.

To point to the Democrat wing of the Vulture Party for political expediency, when the Republican wing of that same enterprise is equally guilty of racking up the indebtedness of our country, is just plain criminal.

Let's see. Two oil men in the White House, and Democrats are to blame for high gas prices. That makes about as much sense as his previous claim that Max Cleland was, somehow, not a patriot. It always amazes me when politicians, without thought, just read what their consultants hand them.